They peeked through the leaves as best they could, trying to see what Fredrick was doing. He was leaning up against a pillar near a row of glass doors.
He was trying his best to look casual, but Anna could see he was fidgeting. Clearly he’d been putting this off, and it was taking its toll on him. Carmine checked the time. It was 12:14; the theater was pretty much closed. There was no one in the darkened ticket booth, and even most of the interior lights were dimmed. Anna wondered what he could possibly be doing here.
“Are they still showing movies now?” Anna asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Carmine shook her head no. “They stop playing at like ten or ten-thirty.”
“So…why are we here?” Anna asked, puzzled. Carmine shrugged and motioned her to watch; they’d see soon enough.
Mina looked over at Anna and whispered, “Maybe he’s here to meet Jackie.”
If that was the case, Anna hoped he was here to do more than just drive her home – she’d hate to have come all this way just to watch Fredrick whisk Jacqueline away to an even more remote location. They turned back to watch, waiting to see what would happen and hoping it would at least take place in this parking lot.
They didn’t have to wait long. Fredrick had timed it so that he’d gotten to the theater just as the last movie of the night was letting out. If Anna looked hard, she could just make out the shapes of people walking around on the other side of the tinted theater doors. Fredrick straightened a little, gearing up.
Soon, groups of people started coming out of those doors, walking right past Fredrick. He stood there checking his watch, looking past the crowd – doing a good job of showing anyone who might glance his way that he was waiting for someone. Then, his eyes fixed on a person at the back of the crowd and he smiled to himself. Anna strained to see who it was, pressing her nose into the chain-linked fence to get a better look.
It was a girl, maybe eleven, but probably younger. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she wore what looked like a pink jean jacket paired with her skirt and sneakers. Anna noticed that not only was she in the back of the crowd, but she didn’t seem to be talking to anyone. Anna’s breath caught in her chest. If this girl really was alone, she would be the perfect target for Fredrick.
Fredrick turned his head to stare at her as she walked by, quickly and hungrily sizing her up. She passed him by several feet before he called out to her.
“Um…excuse me.” he said in a loud, if hesitant voice. Startled, she looked up from her shoes and turned around quizzically.
He looked absolutely charming as he stood there. The leer he’d been wearing only seconds ago was gone, replaced with a trustworthy smile. He waved her over with a small gesture, trying to be reassuring, but still allowing the perfect amount of anxiety to shine through.
As she made her way back to him, he hesitated for a second or two. The girl seemed to think it was embarrassment; Anna knew he was just waiting until the crowd moved further on.
“I’m really sorry to bother you…” He didn’t continue right away, instead letting the conversation hang there for a minute.
“That’s ok. What’s wrong?” the girl asked in sympathy. Apparently, the fake nervousness he was exuding had won her over.
Fredrick glanced causally at the crowd again before continuing. The closest person was now well over twenty feet away, too far to notice what would happen. He turned back to the girl.
“Can I borrow you for a sec? You see, I have a slight problem.” He flashed his winning smile at her, his brows furrowing just the slightest bit.
“Of course.” she said, “What do you need?” For all practical purposes, the two were alone. It was time.
“What do I need?” he asked, shifting his weight slightly, moving closer to her. As he gently reached out and touched her upper arm, his eyes became cold and filled with malice. His charming smile changed into a cruel leer, exposing his long, sharp fangs. “I need…you.”
He said it with wicked delight, as if the only purpose of the statement was to terrify the girl. It worked. She started backing up, a look of panic on her face. But Fredrick’s gentle touch on her shoulder had morphed into a vice-like grip, keeping her in place. She opened her mouth, but before she could even scream for help, Fredrick lunged at her.
The attack was as quick as it was brutal. He lunged down at her with lightning speed, closing the small distance between them almost instantly. He didn’t even bother to put the girl into a trance first, and even from this distance, Anna could see the horror on her face. She would be awake for every gruesome moment until the lack of blood finally got to her. She struggled in vain to get away, but Fredrick’s iron grasp was too tight. The more she struggled, the tighter his grip became. His knuckles turned white, and Anna was afraid he was going to break the girl’s arm.
While she was still trying to get away, Fredrick causally reached up with his free hand and grabbed her head. Her delicate muscles were no match for the brute force he possessed, and he was easily able to pull her neck back and to the side. Expertly, Fredrick bent the girl backwards at the waist and leaned down in kind, as if he was taking the lead in some macabre dance.
The angle they were now at allowed Anna to see the young girl’s face – and all the fear in it – quite clearly. Fortunately for Anna, the girl would have been unable to see her through the leafy plumage even if she had been looking that far away. Instead, she was looking down as best she could at Fredrick, straining desperately to see what he was doing.
The girl screamed, and Anna was unsure if it was from seeing Fredrick’s malicious fangs so close to her, or if it was from the force with which he ripped them into her neck. She fought as hard as she could, the punctures in her neck giving rise to fresh panic. After several seconds of useless fighting, the girl’s eyes slowly started to glaze over from lack of blood. And when they did, her movements slowed, becoming a mere shadow of the valiant effort she’d put up earlier. Finally, her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went limp in his arms.
Fredrick stayed for several minutes, drinking his fill. When he was finished, he pulled his head away from the girl’s slender neck, a satisfied smirk on his face. Even across all this distance, Anna could hear his cold snicker, and a chill ran down her spine.
Blood dripped out of Fredrick’s mouth, a few drops landing on the ground. The girl was now ghostly pale, but it didn’t seem to concern Fredrick in the least. He didn’t drop her, but he didn’t let her down gently, either. It was more like he discarded her. He leaned down with her as far as he could without bending his knees. When she was as close to the ground as he could get her without the inconvenience of having to actually set her there, he dropped her, allowing her unconscious body to fall to the pavement. Fredrick looked down at the girl laying at his feet and smiled coldly.
“Thank you.” he said evenly. “That’s all.”
And with that, he stepped lightly over her limp form and walked casually through the parking lot towards his car, whistling a carefree tune as he went. He never even looked back.
You Were What You Eat Page 40